Last Modified: Monday, February 18, 2013 at 11:54 p.m.

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It's wasn't a Southeastern Conference championship or a game in the College World Series. It was just an early test in mid-February against a team from a lesser league.

But the Wildcats sure were excited about coming back from four runs down in the eighth inning to beat USC Upstate, 11-10, at Harley Park.

“They're happy to win that game,” said Spartans head coach Matt Fincher as he glanced over at the opponents still jumping up and down in right field minutes after the victory.

USC Upstate seemed poised for one of its biggest wins in school history, having knocked out Kentucky ace Corey Littrell in the fourth inning and built a 10-6 lead with six outs to go. But the Wildcats scored four times in the eighth, the last three coming home on a wild pitch and an error on a ground ball.

Then in the ninth, Kentucky won it in a pinch.

With the score tied, two on and two out, Kentucky pinch-hitter Thomas Bernal smacked a ground ball that ducked under the USC Upstate pitcher's glove and leaked into center field, hopping over the bag, just out of reach from a dive, to send pinch-runner Kyle Barrett racing around from second for the winning run.

Perhaps the moral victory will sink in, but the Spartans were dejected after they let what would have been a monumental and attention-grabbing victory slip away.

“You lose early, you lose late ...” Fincher said. “I've done this long enough that, honestly, it doesn't matter to me. A loss is a loss.”

USC Upstate rocked Littrell, 9-2 with a 2.74 ERA last season, for five runs in the fourth and a 7-6 lead. Tyler Miller had a two-run homer, Gaither Bumgardner an RBI single and Brandon Patterson a two-run single. The Spartans added another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth on Trey Richardson's second homer in two games this season to go up four.

“I was pleased with just about everything we did,” Fincher said. “We had good effort and intensity. We were doing a good job with the bats. Some of the pitching wasn't as consistent as we wanted, but that has a lot to do with the opposition. They have a very nice team.”

Kentucky is one of five SEC teams ranked in the top eight nationally. Arkansas, Vanderbilt, LSU and South Carolina are the others. The Wildcats opened their season in Spartanburg with a 9-2 win against Wofford and 20-3 against Niagara.

USC Upstate, which opened its season by scoring 23 runs in a win against Niagara, was even more impressive — although the scoring total wasn't the same — against Littrell. The 6-foot-3 junior left-hander is regarded by Baseball America as one of the top 10 prospects in the SEC. Last season against the Spartans, Littrell held them to two hits in seven innings while striking out eight with one walk and no runs. He finished with the fourth-most wins for a season in school history. But in the rematch, he got only 10 outs while allowing nine hits and seven runs, five earned.

“I like him. He's definitely a very good pitcher,” Fincher said. “I thought our hitters did an excellent job against him. They stayed in the zone for the most part and put the barrel on the ball from time to time. They got him out of the game earlier than he would have liked. … He had his way with us last year. They responded appropriately, in my opinion. They competed with him and did some really good things.”

Patterson led USC Upstate with three hits and three RBIs. Richardson, Brody Greer, Jordan Stampler and Tyler Lesch had two hits each.

USC Upstate, which finished second in the Atlantic Sun Conference last year and after being picked for the bottom of the league, was predicted for third this season. The Spartans will be at home at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Presbyterian before a weekend series at Harley Park against George Washington.

“I wanted to find out some things today,” Fincher said. “What I got out of it was that we're further ahead than we were at this point last year.”

<p>Baseball players for eighth-ranked Kentucky raced from their positions and poured from their dugout toward the mound to celebrate the final out.</p><p>It's wasn't a Southeastern Conference championship or a game in the College World Series. It was just an early test in mid-February against a team from a lesser league.</p><p>But the Wildcats sure were excited about coming back from four runs down in the eighth inning to beat USC Upstate, 11-10, at Harley Park.</p><p>“They're happy to win that game,” said Spartans head coach Matt Fincher as he glanced over at the opponents still jumping up and down in right field minutes after the victory.</p><p>USC Upstate seemed poised for one of its biggest wins in school history, having knocked out Kentucky ace Corey Littrell in the fourth inning and built a 10-6 lead with six outs to go. But the Wildcats scored four times in the eighth, the last three coming home on a wild pitch and an error on a ground ball.</p><p>Then in the ninth, Kentucky won it in a pinch.</p><p>With the score tied, two on and two out, Kentucky pinch-hitter Thomas Bernal smacked a ground ball that ducked under the USC Upstate pitcher's glove and leaked into center field, hopping over the bag, just out of reach from a dive, to send pinch-runner Kyle Barrett racing around from second for the winning run.</p><p>Perhaps the moral victory will sink in, but the Spartans were dejected after they let what would have been a monumental and attention-grabbing victory slip away.</p><p>“You lose early, you lose late ...” Fincher said. “I've done this long enough that, honestly, it doesn't matter to me. A loss is a loss.”</p><p>USC Upstate rocked Littrell, 9-2 with a 2.74 ERA last season, for five runs in the fourth and a 7-6 lead. Tyler Miller had a two-run homer, Gaither Bumgardner an RBI single and Brandon Patterson a two-run single. The Spartans added another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth on Trey Richardson's second homer in two games this season to go up four.</p><p>“I was pleased with just about everything we did,” Fincher said. “We had good effort and intensity. We were doing a good job with the bats. Some of the pitching wasn't as consistent as we wanted, but that has a lot to do with the opposition. They have a very nice team.”</p><p>Kentucky is one of five SEC teams ranked in the top eight nationally. Arkansas, Vanderbilt, LSU and South Carolina are the others. The Wildcats opened their season in Spartanburg with a 9-2 win against Wofford and 20-3 against Niagara.</p><p>USC Upstate, which opened its season by scoring 23 runs in a win against Niagara, was even more impressive — although the scoring total wasn't the same — against Littrell. The 6-foot-3 junior left-hander is regarded by Baseball America as one of the top 10 prospects in the SEC. Last season against the Spartans, Littrell held them to two hits in seven innings while striking out eight with one walk and no runs. He finished with the fourth-most wins for a season in school history. But in the rematch, he got only 10 outs while allowing nine hits and seven runs, five earned.</p><p>“I like him. He's definitely a very good pitcher,” Fincher said. “I thought our hitters did an excellent job against him. They stayed in the zone for the most part and put the barrel on the ball from time to time. They got him out of the game earlier than he would have liked. … He had his way with us last year. They responded appropriately, in my opinion. They competed with him and did some really good things.”</p><p>Patterson led USC Upstate with three hits and three RBIs. Richardson, Brody Greer, Jordan Stampler and Tyler Lesch had two hits each.</p><p>USC Upstate, which finished second in the Atlantic Sun Conference last year and after being picked for the bottom of the league, was predicted for third this season. The Spartans will be at home at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Presbyterian before a weekend series at Harley Park against George Washington.</p><p>“I wanted to find out some things today,” Fincher said. “What I got out of it was that we're further ahead than we were at this point last year.”</p>